SOCCER BUSINESS

March 20, 2015SOCCER BUSINESSMLS adds three sponsors Major League Soccer kicked off its season with huge crowds for expansion franchises in Orlando and New York City, and added three new national sponsors to boot.

March 3, 2015SOCCER BUSINESSUSL makes changes at the top After a busy offseason which saw the addition of 13 teams, the United Soccer League's senior leadership is also undergoing a massive change. Tim Holt, who has served as USL President since 2009 and has been with the organization since 1999, is leaving to pursue other opportunities and is being replaced by Jake Edwards.

October 14, 2014SOCCER BUSINESSNew beer for MLS, new marketing group for NSCAA Heineken has announced a new long term partnership making it the official beer of Major League Soccer. The import beer replaces Budweiser as the league's brew sponsor, a relationship that ran back to the founding of the league in 1996.

July 14, 2014SOCCER BUSINESSBig week for adidas It's been a big week for global sportswear brand adidas. The country most closely associated with the three stripes brand won the World Cup on Sunday, but that win just capped off two other deals for the company which reached a ten-year agreement with Manchester United to become the team's apparel brand, while also renewing a deal with the Mexican Football Federation for El Tri.

July 10, 2014STILL WATCHINGFans tuning into World Cup in record numbers Any notion that American fans would completely lose interest in the World Cup once the United States was eliminated have been proven false, with ESPN continuing to set record breaking audience numbers through the semi-finals.

June 9, 2014SOCCER BUSINESSDempsey jersey is top seller Seattle Sounders FC forward Clint Dempsey tops Major League Soccer's list of most popular jerseys. The U.S. Men’s National Team captain vaulted to the top of the list after signing with Seattle in August 2013.

May 15, 2014SOCCER BUSINESSSoccer’s broadcast boom The big buzz in the soccer industry is about soccer on television, and it's not just Major League Soccer's new big-bucks deal with Fox Sports, ESPN and Univision.

May 12, 2014TRIPLE THREATMLS get big jump in fees in TV deal with Fox, ESPN, Univision NEW YORK-- Major League Soccer is getting a significant bump in both its television exposure, and the amount of money it will collect to broadcast those games. Three major broadcasters; ESPN, Fox Sports and Univision have partnered for eight years starting in 2015 to televise a package of MLS games, as well as a package of U.S. Soccer matches.

April 28, 2014SOCCER BUSINESSTopps hopes to score with MLS license Long known for producing baseball cards, Topps, Inc. hopes to find a new collector's market with its Major League Soccer card set. The New York-based company signed a long term deal with Soccer United Marketing last year, and just recently came out with its 2014 retail MLS product.

March 19, 2014SOCCER BUSINESSMISL preparing for (another) reboot The ever-turbulent world of indoor soccer continued to churn with Monday’s announcement by the United Soccer Leagues that it plans to restructure the Major Indoor Soccer League, and that several of the league's existing teams would not return, putting the 2014-15 season in doubt.